Update : Follow-up on the news : IRVINE : Telephone Relay Plan OKd Over Protests
The city’s zoning administrator has approved a request to install cellular telephone equipment inside an office building in the Marketplace shopping center near UC Irvine, despite protests from the building’s tenants.
AirTouch Cellular plans to install equipment in a second-story office suite to relay cellular telephone calls. Nineteen tenants of the office building signed a petition protesting the plan, however, citing concerns about the long-term effects of working near cellular transmissions and the safety of the unattended relay station.
City officials said the installation posed no health or safety threat to tenants.
AirTouch Cellular spokeswoman Mellissa May said the equipment will consist of computers and radio transmitting devices that will emit no more than 16 watts of energy. May said the company installs equipment in office suites to avoid complaints about the appearance of outdoor cellular relay stations.
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